In the automotive and aerospace industries (especially), it is more and more frequently desired to mark permanently different components of a vehicle in the course of its manufacture. Moreover, it is desired to mark pieces after assembly in the vehicle to ensure each is marked with the relevant markings for the vehicle in question. Thus, rather than marking individual components in a fixed marking machine, the desire now is to mark the components in situ with a portable, handheld marking device.
On the other hand, with the advent of machine readable codes, precise marking is of significant importance. There is a need therefore to combine the conflicting requirements of lightness and compactness of a handheld marking device with the precision and robustness that impact marking needs in order to be reliably machine readable.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,022 addresses some of these issues but nevertheless fails to provide a design of device which is either easy to construct or has great precision. U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,022 discloses a marking device having a base frame to which is pivoted a head drive frame in which a translational carriage is slidingly disposed. A manifold is mounted on the carriage and carries a marking device. The head drive frame is pivoted by a motor driven cam plate. Another motor drives a belt for translational movement of the carriage. The whole arrangement is disposed in a casing provided with a handle.
Despite being intended for handheld operation, the design is heavy, bulky and may lack precision.